I too have an appointment with my ortho for surgical hooks; day before the surgery for me. He still uses them for banding shut, but no wires. I'm waiting for a call back from my surgeon for the couple of pre op appointments we need.

I hope everything goes smoothly with those and there's no speed bumps along the way; (ie; insurance issues....)

Snapdresser - Yep. He plans on wiring me shut (with bands, not actual wires) for I think 2-3 weeks after the surgery. I've read that some do and some don't. Maybe it sometimes depends on how much movement they are doing? As for the chin, I don't think mine's too large...it might extend a little bit past the brow after the surgery but I'm not too concerned... :/ He didn't even bring it up until I said something. I doubt my insurance would cover any type of genioplasty or chin work and I don't have the cash for that.

Jaime - I'm sure you'll be fine without the surgical hooks. It probably is just their preference. Plenty of people have had the surgery without the hooks:) Hahaha right, I'm sure jaw surgery is just a walk in the park and exactly like wisdom teeth removal. Sawing off bones, reattaching them, and then letting them heal is pretty much the same deal

I'm hoping to buy more pre-op supplies this week. Only 5 weeks left to buy them. I kind of wish I would have started buying them sooner! Only 5 more paychecks until surgery, boo

Snapdresser & Jaime - Are your guy's surgeries being covered by your insurance? My insurance approved my surgery back in September. My surgeon and the hospital are both in my network. I'm really worried about the hospital trying to get me to pay money upfront but I don't see why they would. Surely they'd have to bill the insurance first and then bill me, right? I'm expecting to pay my portion of the surgeon's fee ($12k before insurance, my portion is about $1,200) upfront--which is fine--but I can't handle more than $2,000 upfront for the surgery.

I like that there are quite a few of us getting surgery around the same time. I was worried I wouldn't have any surgery buddies when I was getting mine done.

What's something that you guys are looking forward to after you are healed from the surgery? I think I'm most excited about eating food properly lol. I can't eat corn on the cob, burgers, pizza, sandwiches, tough meat, etc. properly. I have to tear or cut up practically all my food. I get so embarrassed eating in public. I can't wait to eat normally.

Braced on October 14, 2014.
Lefort I and vertical ramus osteotomy: June 15, 2015
Braces to be removed January 5, 2017.

No worries, Kayla...You give your insurance information to the hospital check in people and they run it. No cash exchanges hands the day of surgery I had to pay for my surgeon's fee when I did my molds, but I'm pretty sure that's standard. What my surgeon's office does is they look at your insurance information and guestimate what it should cost, then they charge you that. If it's different after they receive the insurance payment, they will either refund you or bill you accordingly. I've still yet to receive my hospital bill (or anesthesiologist's bill, for that matter), but when I check my claims online for my insurance company, they're being processed. The hospital bill currently says denied (which gave me a mini heart attack), but it's because they're requesting more information from the hospital (probably an itemized list of some sort) before they pay out. The hospital has up to 1 month to reply, then I assume I'll get my bill about 2-4 weeks after that, but so far no bill yet.

Snap, your syringes will be shipping out Monday or Tuesday (whenever I get my lazy butt to Staples), so look for your syringes soon!

A word of advice for you guys...get one of those mirror things that dentists use to look at the teeth in the back of your mouth (and get one with a light on it!). With all the swelling going on after surgery, I used that thing to pry my swollen inner cheeks off my teeth to make sure I didn't have any food stuck back there. It's hard to see when you can't open your mouth and the swelling is hard to get around. And if you're having double jaw surgery, I hear that getting a lot of soft napkins helps a lot with drooling. I bought a ton of those too, but I had no drooling (lower jaw surgery only)...but at least I can reuse napkins

PS - Actually, my jaw surgery recovery really wasn't that bad...they're probably right when comparing it to wisdom teeth removal. ...Just with longer swelling periods and a lot of naps that first week. I literally had no pain, even after coming home from the hospital. I slept a lot because my body went through the surgery itself, but because the bone itself doesn't actually have nerves in it, it's relatively painless. And if they have to move your nerves, then you have even less pain because the nerves are bruised and can't relay the pain signals. The swelling is a tad uncomfortable...but only because I felt that my skin was stretched so tight. ...I'm a smallish girl (115lbs), but I felt like my head was HUGE on day 3...with about 14 chins. And I was slightly peanut shaped, leading my boyfriend (who doted on me post surgery) to call me Peanuthead for the next month.

Whenever we went outside (starting day 5?) we called them Peanuthead adventures. Also, people will look at you strangely when your head is swollen and you go in public...but that's ok. I got stared at a lot (Seattle actually had an anime convention that week, so there were plenty of other weirdos on the street at least) but when we got into some sunshine, my boyfriend discovered that my entire neck was covered in bruises, so it looked like he beat the crap out of me. ...so then we got into a debate about if I was being stared at because of my peanut head or because of the bruises. ...ahhhhh fun conversations...

...and he got hot dogs the first day we ventured outside. ...I had a very strong urge to knock them out of his hands since I couldn't have any... (but no worries, I resisted...)

Also, Kayla, you should check with your insurance to make sure that your surgery is still approved. For my surgery, I was approved in March 2014 for the surgery, but that approval expired at the end if 2014. Since I switched surgeons, my new surgeon had to send in new paperwork/moldings, etc to get it reapproved, but it wasn't too much of a hassle. The insurance basically told me that they needed to have the new dr's name and the new date of surgery, and it would likely be reapproved. I also had to stay on top of my insurance, though, because their system glitched and didn't send out the approval paperwork. I finally had them fax the approval paperwork to the surgeon's office 2 days before my payment was due. ...and most insurances take 48hrs to prepare the paperwork saying you're approved, so take that into consideration, too. I was approved on a Monday, hadn't gotten paperwork by the following Wednesday, called for the paperwork on Wednesday, then my surgeon's office finally got the paperwork that Friday. ...my payment was due on the next Tuesday. If I hadn't followed up, I would've had to pay over $10k (for the entire procedure, not just the surgeon's fee).

Deathorglory, that's good to hear your surgery wasn't too painful. My SARPE was less painful than I thought it would be, it was just uncomfortable. It was a lot of little annoying things.

As for insurance, I'm in Canada and so surgery is paid for. I paid $100 out of pocket for my consultation and then $800 for a work-up fee, which is something my insurance won't cover. The $800 is actually extremely reasonable, as other Canadian surgeons charge in the thousands.

KaylaChristine: Ah, ok. Yeah, I've heard that some people don't even get elastics. Those people are incredibly lucky... I'm expecting elastics to clinch me closed for a few weeks too. Strangely, my insurance is covering my genio. It approved my LeFort I, BSSO, and genio the first time I applied. My surgeon's write-up was money, apparently Your insurance should be billed first before you pay anything, but sometimes they know something isn't "typically" approved by your insurance so they ask for the money before they even submit it to your insurance. Part of my initial consult was that way. They did submit it, but of course it got denied, no surprise. Yeah, if you're happy with the treatment plan, then great! You surgeon should already be going for the best post-op appearance, you'd think. I'm most looking forward to my new look )) Also: less oral trauma (biting the inside of my mouth) and breathing easier.

Deathorglory: Thanks in advance for the syringes! Tbh I thought you were a diesel dude based on your s/n, not a "smallish girl" lol. Peanuthead adventures sound so fun! Where'd you go? That's real funny about the anime convention You got lucky! Also, sounds like you did real well with the surgery. That's a credit to your general health and your surgeon's skill, I guess. No pain at all? I'ma be ecstatic if that's the case for me

Nowhere spectacular. We went for hour long walks at the park, through downtown, and down by the waterfront, etc. It was really nice to get out...the week I had surgery was amazingly sunny...kind of unheard of for April in Seattle...! My last weekend before going back to work, we went out to Levenworth, WA for some "hiking" out there. It was really nice until I realized that I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to eat a bratwurst...

Fair warning...today is 6 weeks out (NEWLY CLEARED TO CHEW!!!) and my cheeks are still pretty swollen. I'm still kind of biting on them on my right side where the swelling is higher. ...It's ok...I'm just glad that I also get to chew on some steak...

Yaaayyy chewing! I been thinking about Jaime's idea for a "Last Dinner". Steak might be it. Mmmm steeeaaaak.... I'll have to think of some Peanuthead Adventures too. The park within walking distance is pretty lame and I kinda feel like the air in my area is nasty and is probably loaded with harmful bacteria. Or maybe it just smells that way?

Yeah, I have to do that too. After my "pre-surgical testing" at the hospital where they're going to do the surgery. This afternoon I meet with my surgeon again! We'll see what she's got to say. She wanted to do some more x-rays, some kind of 3D scan I think (CT?), etc etc. Not sure whether or not she's going to present a treatment plan to me or not... I hope she does!

deathorglory - Thanks for the reassurance. I figured I wouldn't have any money due the day of--it's just a worry of mine lol. I'm expecting to pay the surgeon's fee up front. Oh yikes, that would give me a mini heart attack too! Thanks for the light tip for the mirror! I have one but I can never see anything because it's so dark lol. I hope my recovery goes as smoothly as yours. I swelled up horribly after my wisdom teeth removal (I also had 2 teeth removed & 2 impacted teeth exposed at the same time) so I'm expecting to swell really bad. Oh and I checked with the surgeon's office & my surgery approval is good for a year

Jaime - Oh well that's great then! I'm super jealous of other countries that pay for the surgery lol.

snapdresser - That's great that your insurance is covering the genio! My surgeon didn't submit anything for the possibility of mine, but I don't think they'd cover it if he did.

Speaking of "last dinners"...I'm going to have several! I'm still deciding what to eat though.

Yeah, I'll have to fill out a basic health information form as well.

Spoke with the surgeon's office today. After my pre-op appointment at the hospital I'm to go over to their office (it's right next door) to fill out a consent form, discuss payment on the portion that insurance isn't covering, and to get my measurements & stuff (official treatment plan?)done with the surgeon. I'm a little bothered that he's doing the exact measurements less than a week before the surgery but I'm sure it'll be fine.

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I have asthma and I'm really worried about having an attack while I'm wired shut. They said they'd send me home with scissors to cut the bands in case of an emergency but I really, really don't want to have to do that.

Braced on October 14, 2014.
Lefort I and vertical ramus osteotomy: June 15, 2015
Braces to be removed January 5, 2017.

KaylaChristine: Yeah, my genio is covered cuz the chin is attached to the muscles of the tongue and I'm getting the surgery for sleep apnea reasons. So supposedly the genio will help pull my tongue forward and open my airways more. It's hard for me to imagine insurance covering it when the bite is the issue, tho Most places just assume it won't be covered by insurance, but I got a hot tip regarding genio for sleep apnea Yeah, I hear ya about the asthma thing. I don't have asthma, but I'm concerned about how I'll breathe when I'm all congested and whatnot. A guy's blog I was reading said he couldn't sleep at ALL the first night cuz he was afraid he wouldn't be able to breathe and would die in his sleep... Maybe they teach you some breathing techniques? I could stand to learn some too. I foresee some little mini-freakouts post-surgery myself.

So I met with my surgeon again yesterday for her to take the 3D CT scan and take measurements (again), a new set of molds, etc. She told me I'm about 1mm canted to the right on my maxilla and about 3mm canted to the right at my chin. Not noticeable to people and doesn't affect my bite, but they're gonna take care of that anyways as long as they've got me opened up The surgeon said that could be our last meeting before surgery day but I told her I wanted to see her again to discuss her treatment plan so that appointment will be about a week before my surgery. She's gonna do them up in pencil first (to plan an aesthetic ideal) and then mess around on the computer with my 3D CT scan to plan exactly what they need to do to get there. Then she's gonna show me in 3D, it sounds like She listened to my concerns and addressed them, as you guys said she would Y'all are the best!

Oh okay, that makes complete sense. I don't know if I have any sleep apnea issues or not. I'm tempted to see my regular physician and see if she can give me a prescription for some type of nebulizer machine (they make portable ones) to make it easier to take the medication. Though I wonder if getting an inhaler spacer (chamber that slows down the delivery of the medication) would be just as effective. But yeah, I am also really concerned about how difficult it will be able to breathe after the surgery--asthma aside. I've read that a lot of people are super congested after the surgery. One girl (that I saw from a video) had to go to the hospital because a really big blood clot formed in her nose and she could hardly breathe. They were able to remove it easily....but still..I really hope I won't have any problems like that.

That's great that she's doing a 3D CT scan! I hope my surgeon does that. I'm glad she listened to your concerns! The coming days are just going to fly by!

Do you guys have any recipes that you plan on using during recovery? I'm going to buy protein powder to make shakes with. I've noticed a lot of recipes call for bananas though...and I'm allergic to bananas lol. So I'm up for any suggestions that don't call for them!

Side note: the banana allergy is a recent allergy. Up until age 19-20 (I'll be 25 next month) I had no problems what so ever eating them. Oh how I miss them!

Braced on October 14, 2014.
Lefort I and vertical ramus osteotomy: June 15, 2015
Braces to be removed January 5, 2017.

As far as recipes I plan on using some protein powder, frozen berries, almond milk; strained of course for the seeds. I don't think it has the mucous thickening qualities like cows milk does. Maybe add some peanut butter, coconut oil and that sort of thing for extra calories. Probably puree some veggies too. I don't think I'll try blending any chicken or anything though...